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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 145 records · Page 8

General algorithm for characterization of donor-acceptor pair recombination processes in solid-state materials

Radiative recombination processes can occur in solid-state systems through the pairing of donor and acceptor defects of the lattice. Recently, donor-acceptor pairs (DAP) have been proposed as promising candidates for quantum applications, and their signature has been observed in emerging low-dimensional materials. Therefore, the identification of such processes is gaining interest and requires methods to efficiently and reliably characterize them. Here, we introduce a general algorithm to identify DAP processes starting from the experimental photoluminescence (PL) emission spectrum and basic material parameters, including the lattice structure and dielectric constant. The algorithm recognizes possible DAP transitions from the emission pattern in the spectrum and returns the characteristic energy of the DAP transition and the separation between the donor and acceptor sites. By testing the algorithm on the photoluminescence spectrum of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), we show that our method is robust against experimental errors and adds new capabilities to the investigation toolbox of semiconductors and their optical properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Dynamics of canopy stomatal conductance, transpiration, and evaporation in a temperate deciduous forest, validated by carbonyl sulfide uptake

Abstract. Stomatal conductance influences both photosynthesis and transpiration, thereby coupling the carbon and water cycles and affecting surface–atmosphere energy exchange. The environmental response of stomatal conductance has been measured mainly on the leaf scale, and theoretical canopy models are relied on to upscale stomatal conductance for application in terrestrial ecosystem models and climate prediction. Here we estimate stomatal conductance and associated transpiration in a temperate deciduous forest directly on the canopy scale via two independent approaches: (i) from heat and water vapor exchange and (ii) from carbonyl sulfide (OCS) uptake. We use the eddy covariance method to measure the net ecosystem–atmosphere exchange of OCS, and we use a flux-gradient approach to separate canopy OCS uptake from soil OCS uptake. We find that the seasonal and diurnal patterns of canopy stomatal conductance obtained by the two approaches agree (to within ±6 % diurnally), validating both methods. Canopy stomatal conductance increases linearly with above-canopy light intensity (in contrast to the leaf scale, where stomatal conductance shows declining marginal increases) and otherwise depends only on the diffuse light fraction, the canopy-average leaf-to-air water vapor gradient, and the total leaf area. Based on stomatal conductance, we partition evapotranspiration (ET) and find that evaporation increases from 0 to 40 % of ET as the growing season progresses, driven primarily by rising soil temperature and secondarily by rainfall. Counterintuitively, evaporation peaks at the time of year when the soil is dry and the air is moist. Our method of ET partitioning avoids concerns about mismatched scales or measurement types because both ET and transpiration are derived from eddy covariance data. Neither of the two ecosystem models tested predicts the observed dynamics of evaporation or transpiration, indicating that ET partitioning such as that provided here is needed to further model development and improve our understanding of carbon and water cycling.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Event Reconstruction in the NOvA Experiment

The NOvA experiment observes oscillations in two channels (electron-neutrino appearance and muon-neutrino disappearance) using a predominantly muon-neutrino NuMI beam. The Near Detector records multiple overlapping neutrino interactions in each event and the Far Detector has a large background of cosmic rays due to being located on the surface. The oscillation analyses rely on the accurate reconstruction of neutrino interactions in order to precisely measure the neutrino energy and identify the neutrino flavor and interaction mode. Similarly, measurements of neutrino cross sections using the Near Detector require accurate identification of the particle content of each interaction. A series of pattern recognition techniques have been developed to split event records into individual spatially and temporally separated interactions, to estimate the interaction vertex, and to isolate and classify individual particles within the event. This combination of methods to achieve full event reconstruction in the NOvA detectors has discussed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Rapid Memory Footprint Access Diagnostics

Footprint and reuse distance measure temporal locality and therefore do not capture the significance of access patterns (spacial locality). A strided access pattern has the largest possible footprint but usually has the best performance. To highlight exposed memory latency, we separate footprint into strided (prefetchable) and irregular (non-prefetchable) access components and calculate the growth rate of each. To rapidly compute these footprint access diagnostics, we present two methods, whole-program and precise. Current footprint analyses can cause 200× or more slowdown with realistic inputs and are therefore impractical. Our whole-program method reduces the overhead to 10% by computing upper bounds, but still yields inter-procedural insight through a call path profile. Our precise method uses additional static analysis and profiling to refine the upper bounds for intra-procedural loop nests. We evaluate our approaches using benchmarks that vary access patterns (strided \vs unpredictable), sparsity (all words in a cache line \vs some), and reuse (varying and repeated accesses per element). Notably, for loop nests with unpredictable accesses, the precise method's accuracy is within 10% of ideal. The whole-program method has sufficient accuracy to diagnose bottlenecks.

data locality, memory footprint, footprint access ↗

Determining protein polarization proteome-wide using physical dissection of individual Stentor coeruleus cells

Cellular components are non-randomly arranged with respect to the shape and polarity of the whole cell. Patterning within cells can extend down to the level of individual proteins and mRNA. But how much of the proteome is actually localized with respect to cell polarity axes? Proteomics combined with cellular fractionation has shown that most proteins localize to one or more organelles but does not tell us how many proteins have a polarized localization with respect to the large-scale polarity axes of the intact cell. Genome-wide localization studies in yeast found that only a few percent of proteins have a localized position relative to the cell polarity axis defined by sites of polarized cell growth. Here, we describe an approach for analyzing protein distribution within a cell with a visibly obvious global patterning - the giant ciliate Stentor coeruleus. Ciliates, including Stentor, have highly polarized cell shapes with visible surface patterning. A Stentor cell is roughly 2mmlong, allowing a ‘‘proteomic dissection’’ in which microsurgery is used to separate cellular fragments along the anterior-posterior axis, followed by comparative proteomic analysis. In our analysis, 25% of the proteome, including signaling proteins, centrin/SFI proteins, and GAS2 orthologs, shows a polarized location along the cell’s anterior-posterior axis. We conclude that a large proportion of all proteins are polarized with respect to global cell polarity axes and that proteomic dissection provides a simple and effective approach for spatial proteomics.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Pollen Cell Wall Patterns Form from Modulated Phases

The ornately geometric walls of pollen grains have inspired scientists for decades. Here, we show that the evolved diversity of these patterns is entirely recapitulated by a biophysical model in which an initially uniform polysaccharide layer in the extracellular space, mechanically coupled to the cell membrane, phase separates to a spatially modulated state. Experiments reveal this process occurring in living cells. We observe that in ~10% of extant species, this phase separation reaches equilibrium during development such that individual pollen grains are identical and perfectly reproducible. About 90% of species undergo an arrest of this process prior to equilibrium such that individual grains are similar but inexact copies. Equilibrium patterns have appeared multiple times during the evolution of seed plants, but selection does not favor these states. This framework for pattern development provides a route to rationalizing the surface textures of other secreted structures, such as cell walls and insect cuticle.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Wire-cell 3D pattern recognition techniques for neutrino event reconstruction in large LArTPCs: algorithm description and quantitative evaluation with MicroBooNE simulation

Wire-Cell is a 3D event reconstruction package for liquid argon time projection chambers. Through geometry, time, and drifted charge from multiple readout wire planes, 3D space points with associated charge are reconstructed prior to the pattern recognition stage. Pattern recognition techniques, including track trajectory and dQ/dx (ionization charge per unit length) fitting, 3D neutrino vertex fitting, track and shower separation, particle-level clustering, and particle identification are then applied on these 3D space points as well as the original 2D projection measurements. A deep neural network is developed to enhance the reconstruction of the neutrino interaction vertex. Compared to traditional algorithms, the deep neural network boosts the vertex efficiency by a relative 30% for charged-current ν e interactions. Therefore, this pattern recognition achieves 80–90% reconstruction efficiencies for primary leptons, after a 65.8% (72.9%) vertex efficiency for charged-current ν e (ν μ ) interactions. Based on the resulting reconstructed particles and their kinematics, we also achieve 15-20% energy reconstruction resolutions for charged-current neutrino interactions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Estimating region-specific fuel economy in the United States from real-world driving cycles

Here we describe a method for estimating region-specific real-world light-duty vehicle fuel economy in the United States that is unique in both the size and representativeness of real-world driving that was considered, and for its ability to model regional variations in driving patterns. Over one million miles of national driving data were used to select real-world cycles representative of observed trip categories. The six cycles were compared to U.S. legislative cycles, revealing some key differences. Finally, a set of cycle weighting factors for 533 separate U.S. regions was derived from annual traffic statistics. Applying this method, it was found that regional fuel economy varies due to differences in driving patterns alone and that rural driving patterns lead to improved fuel economy (for conventional vehicles). The driving cycles and regional weighting factors described here are useful for testing and simulation studies, specifically those sensitive to regional variations in driving patterns.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Notified access in coarray-based hydrodynamics applications on many-core architectures: Design and performance

With the increasing availability of the Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) support in computer networks, the so called Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) model has evolved in the last few years. Although there are several cases where a PGAS approach can easily solve difficult message passing situations, like in particle tracking and adaptive mesh refinement applications, the producer-consumer pattern, usually adopted in task-based parallelism, can only be implemented inefficiently because of the separation between data transfer and synchronization (which is usually unified in message passing programming models). Here, in this paper, we provide two contributions: (1) we propose an extension for the Fortran language that provides the concept of Notified Access by associating regular coarray variables with event variables. (2) We demonstrate that the MPI extension proposed by foMPI for Notified Access can be used effectively to implement the same concept in a PGAS run-time library like OpenCoarrays. Moreover, for a hydrodynamics mini-application, we found that Fortran 2018 events perform always better than Fortran 2008 sync statements on many-core processors. We finally show how the proposed Notified Access can improve the performance even more.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Orthotropic Viscoelastic Modeling of Polymeric Battery Separator

The separator is one of the most important components for battery safety since its failure can cause short-circuit that may lead to thermal runaway. As such, understanding the mechanical behaviors of separators is critical to improve battery safety. Nevertheless, modeling the mechanical behaviors of separators is challenging since they usually depend on multiple factors such as orientation, temperature and strain rate due to the microstructure of separators. Here we develop an orthotropic linear viscoelastic model for separators, which takes both anisotropy and strain rate effects into account. This model is the first step of a future model that considers more factors such as temperature and large deformation. The model has been implemented as a user material model in a finite element package, where a discretization algorithm is developed to evaluate the stiffness-based hereditary integral with a kernel of Prony series. The user model has been applied to a polypropylene (PP) separator Celgard ® 2400. The simulation results agree well with experimental data, which include the rate dependent uniaxial tensile behavior of the separator in the two in-plane material directions and in shear, and the strain contour patterns of every strain component during biaxial tension.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Magnetized Converging Flows toward the Hot Core in the Intermediate/High-mass Star-forming Region NGC 6334 V

We present Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations at 345 GHz toward the intermediate/high-mass cluster-forming region NGC 6334 V. From the dust emission we spatially resolve three dense condensations, the brightest one presenting the typical chemistry of a hot core. The magnetic field (derived from the dust polarized emission) shows a bimodal converging pattern toward the hot core. The molecular emission traces two filamentary structures at two different velocities, separated by 2 km s{sup −1}, converging to the hot core and following the magnetic field distribution. We compare the velocity field and the magnetic field derived from the SMA observations with magnetohydrodynamic simulations of star-forming regions dominated by gravity. This comparison allows us to show how the gas falls in from the larger-scale extended dense core (∼0.1 pc) of NGC 6334 V toward the higher-density hot core region (∼0.02 pc) through two distinctive converging flows dragging the magnetic field, whose strength seems to have been overcome by gravity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Implementation of Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Based Separations in Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM)

Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) is a powerful variant of traveling wave ion mobility spectrometry (TW-IMS) that uses a serpentine pattern of microelectrodes deposited onto printed circuit boards to achieve ultralong ion path lengths (13.5 m). Ions are propelled through SLIM platforms via arrays of TW electrodes while RF and DC electrodes provide radial confinement, establishing near lossless transmission. The recent ability to cycle ions multiple times through a SLIM has allowed ion path lengths to exceed 1000 m, providing unprecedented separation power and the ability to observe ion structural conformations unobtainable with other IMS technologies. The combination of high separation power, high signal intensity, and the ability to couple with mass spectrometry places SLIM in the unique position of being able to address longstanding proteomics and metabolomics challenges by allowing the characterization of isomeric mixtures containing low abundance analytes.

Hollerbach, Adam L.↗

Transient pattern formation in an active matter contact poisoning model

Abstract One of the most notable features in repulsive particle based active matter systems is motility-induced-phase separation (MIPS) where a dense, often crystalline phase and low density fluid coexist. Most active matter studies involve time-dependent activity; however, there are many active systems where individual particles transition from living or moving to dead or nonmotile due to lack of fuel, infection, or poisoning. Here we consider an active matter particle system at densities where MIPS does not occur. When we add a small number of infected particles that can poison other particles, rendering them nonmotile, we find a rich variety of time dependent pattern formation, including MIPS, a wetting phase, and a fragmented state formed when mobile particles plow through a nonmotile packing. We map the patterns as a function of time scaled by epidemic duration, and show that the pattern formation is robust for a wide range of poisoning rates and activity levels. We also show that pattern formation does not occur in a random death model, but requires the promotion of nucleation by contact poisoning. Our results should be relevant to biological and active matter systems where there is some form of poisoning, death, or transition to nonmotility.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Regional patterns in hydrologic response, a new three-component metric for hydrograph analysis and implications for ecohydrology, Northwest Volcanic Aquifer Study Area, USA

Spatial patterns of hydrologic response were examined for the Northwest Volcanic Aquifer Study Area (NVASA). The utility of established hydrograph-separation methods for assessing hydrologic response in permeable volcanic terranes was assessed and a new three-component metric for hydrograph analysis was developed. The new metric, which partitions streamflow into subcomponents defined by the timescales of hydrologic response (e.g., fast-runoff, intermediate-interflow and slow-baseflow), was used to gain a fundamental understanding of the regional hydrology, investigate sub-regional differences, influencing factors, and ecohydrological implications. The combined effects of NVASA’s physiography, climate and geology create a strongly coupled surface-groundwater system that produces copious baseflow and limited quantities of runoff and interflow. Patterns of hydrologic response are influenced by the type and rate of precipitation and permeability of the underlying geology. Under variable precipitation conditions the hydrologic response of volcanic terranes with similar permeability and subsurface-storage capacity can be significantly different. From a water management and ecohydrology perspective, understanding regional patterns of hydrologic response and sub-regional differences is fundamental. Results indicate that minimum-flow methods provide the most conservative estimate of baseflow and may be the most robust for filtering out snowmelt bias in baseflow estimates. Baseflow contributes ~75% of the perennial streamflow across the NVASA and represents a critical component of the regional water supply that provides critical cold-water habitat.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Evidence of Specific MJO Phase Occurrence with Summertime California Central Valley Extreme Hot Weather

This study examines associations between California Central Valley (CCV) heat waves and the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO). These heat waves have major economic impact. Our prior work showed that CCV heat waves are frequently preceded by convection over the tropical Indian and eastern Pacific oceans, in patterns identifiable with MJO phases. The main analysis method is lagged composites (formed after each MJO phase pair) of CCV synoptic station temperature, outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), and velocity potential (VP). Over the CCV, positive temperature anomalies occur only after the Indian Ocean (phases 2–3) or eastern Pacific Ocean (phases 8–1) convection (implied by OLR and VP fields). The largest fractions of CCV hot days occur in the two weeks after onset of those two phase pairs. OLR and VP composites have significant subsidence and convergence above divergence over the CCV during heat waves, and these structures are each part of larger patterns having significant areas over the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Prior studies showed that CCV heat waves can be roughly grouped into two clusters: Cluster 2 is preceded by a heat wave over northwestern North America, while Cluster 1 is not. OLR and VP composite analyses are applied separately to these two clusters. However, for Cluster 2, the subsidence and VP over the CCV are not significant, and the large-scale VP pattern has low correlation with the MJO lagged composite field. Therefore, the association between the MJO convection and subsequent CCV heat wave is more evident in Cluster 1 than Cluster 2.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Aerodynamics and CFD analysis of equal size dual-rotor wind turbine

In this study, the linear momentum theory is used to analyze the power-extraction capability of dual-rotor wind turbines with equal-size rotors. The rotors of a dual-rotor wind turbine are modeled as two separate actuator disks. The stream tube encompassing the front rotor is modeled as two (inner and outer) stream tubes, with the rear rotor being fully enclosed within the front rotor inner stream tube. No assumption is made on airflow pressure in between the rotors. The effect of the front and rear rotor interaction on the airflow within the inner stream tube is included in the analysis. With the results obtained, axial thrusts on front and rear rotors are determined and later used as input for computational fluid dynamics simulation to determine flow characteristics across the rotors. Based on the flow pattern between the rotors, the total power coefficient of a dual-rotor wind turbine is related to the rotor separation distance. A general solution for the dual-rotor wind turbine is developed, which shows that the largest total power coefficient that can be obtained is 0.814, occurring at a rotor separation distance of 2.8 times the rotor diameter. Finally, the results of this study are compared with those obtained by similar studies reported in the literature. Discrepancies in the largest possible power coefficient of dual-rotor wind turbines reported in various investigations are examined and discussed.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

CHAPTER 9. Bijels the Easy Way

Spinodal decomposition is not the only way to make a bijel. Indeed, while spinodal decomposition produces structures with a potentially useful morphology, it can be challenging to make bijels using this method and the resulting systems can be hard to process and manipulate. Furthermore, exploiting the functional properties of the assembled particle monolayer is extremely challenging. Here, we show how the assembly of nanoparticle surfactants at the liquid–liquid interface can be used to kinetically trap liquids into a wealth of complex structures without using spinodal decomposition. We apply liquid three-dimensional printing and moulding methods, along with patterned substrates with controllable wetting properties, to build all-liquid devices with applications in chemical synthesis, separation, and purification. The functional properties of the assembled nanomaterials can be exploited to produce interfacially structured liquids that are plasmonically and magnetically responsive. Finally, we conclude by arguing that, while the field shows great promise, efforts need to be made to translate liquid bicontinuous systems out of the laboratory and into meaningful, real-world applications, as well applications in more ‘exotic’ disciplines, such as synthetic biology.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Exploration of non-resonant divertor features on the Compact Toroidal Hybrid

Abstract Non-resonant divertors (NRDs) separate the confined plasma from the surrounding plasma facing components (PFCs). The resulting striking field line intersection pattern on these PFCs is insensitive to plasma equilibrium effects. However, a complex scrape-off layer (SOL), created by chaotic magnetic topology in the plasma edge, connects the core plasma to the PFCs through varying magnetic flux tubes. The Compact Toroidal Hybrid (CTH) serves as a test-bed to study this by scanning across its inductive current. Simulations observe a significant change of the chaotic edge structure and an effective distance between the confined plasma and the instrumented wall targets. The intersection pattern is observed to be a narrow helical band, which we claim is a resilient strike line pattern. However, signatures of finger-like structures, defined as heteroclinic tangles in chaotic domains, within the plasma edge connect the island chains to this resilient pattern. The dominant connection length field lines intersecting the targets are observed via heat flux modeling with EMC3-EIRENE. At low inductive current levels, the excursion of the field lines resembles a limited plasma wall scenario. At high currents, a private flux region is created in the area where the helical strike line pattern splits into two bands. These bands are divertor legs with distinct SOL parallel particle flow channels. The results demonstrate the NRD strike line pattern resiliency within CTH, but also show the underlying chaotic edge structure determining if the configuration is diverted or limited. This work supports future design efforts for a mechanical structure for the NRD.

Physics↗